Lasting machine



Aug 7, 1945.

W. T. B. ROBERTS LASTING MACHINE- Filed Sept. 13; 1944 [five hf'or' x/il/iam r B. Roberts Patented Aug. 7, 1945 a I I Bucliingham Roberts, Leicester,

"Englandfas signor" to United Shoe Machinery ation, Elemington, a corporation of This invention relates to-lasting machines,- and is herein illustrated as applied to ajpower-operated: toealasting machine constructed generally asdisclosed in UnitediStates Letters PatentNo. 2,134,148, granted on October 2 5, 11938,: onan application of, mine; It isn-to be understood,

howevely that the invention Z :is -not limited to it is jmoved to inoperative position so that there machine organizations of that particular "character, v I

' {,flfhe machine fshown g above-mentioned Lettersfatentis provided with; wipers movable tQewipe'the marginal portion ofan uppers about thQ;t0e end of' a 'last inwardly over an insole on thelast, Associated with'the wipers are-automatic power-operated mechanisms arranged-respectively. -toadvance them: lengthwise of the shoe ;and,,-tonclose them tinwardlyover, the in -sole;widthwiseof the shoe-"thesemechanisms servingthereafter to retract the'wipersfrom the shoe to''- predetermined, -positions -When' so "retracted their; edges are-commonl y" close to-thej upperof e. the toe: end of a .j shoe -c'orrectly posia tionedin '-the; machine andrassist in.-properly Positioning the shoe 'laterally.-- s a a shoe is presented; to; the machine: the" toe-end portion of the upper :iswcommonly {111:3

condition resulting from an earlier pullingE-Qver operation; and has .ears which project outwardly from .the tlastuat the corners of the toe. While theseiears;ifV-theiupperisof comparatively thin- -;material-, may bereadily; pressed toward the, lastzwbyetheedges of the;wi-pers, it has been found that; ina comparatively thick or heavy upper theymay interfere with the presentation- "2:; eshoewtothe machine in-proper-position for a he, lasting operation. ,The present" inven-- tion accordingly provides novel means whereby the retractedpositions of the wipers" may "be changed gso as to provide moreclearance between-r their edges and thelast. in operating on will be "more clearance between the edges of the wipers and the last. Itwill be evident that such variation of'the limits of, theretractive move-s ments of the wipers does not affect the limits of their wiping movements. The novel features of the'invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now bfemore particularly described With reference tothe accompanying drawing and thereafter pointed out in the claims. In,the.drawing, 3 v Fig. 1 is a view in right-hand side elevation of a portion .ofthe wiper-operating means of the machine shown in the previously mentioned Let-v ters Patent, together with meansprovided by this invention j for varying the retracted posirtions of the wipers;

. FigHZ'iS-a right-hand side elevationof a portion of the wiper-operating means not clearly visible in Fig. -1; and 1 5;

eg fi scfiei a p ea-v w how n e t e ip and 5181106111 position to be'operated upon the wipers being in their retracted positions.-

- Whilethe machine to v which: the. invention is,

herein shown as applied may;v be" assumed Ito be constructed generally asdisclosed in the above-Q mentioned rLetters Patent, it may be I modified in some respects as disclosed in other ,United States Letters Patent grantedson applications of mine, including Letters Patent No. 2,135,677, granted on November 8, l938-,; which. discloses a preferred construction of means for, supporting the shoe and for, determining its position lengthwise in the machine; With the shoe thus positioned, it is operated upon by wipers 2 (Fig, 3) which are advanced bodily lengthwise; of the shoe and are closed inwardly widthwise of the.

stop mechanism whichmay be used to limit the retract-live movements ofthe wipers to shortermovementsthan would otherwise be effected; and to, permit such limitation of the retractive movements-oi the-wipersthe cams have portions,

which are yieldable when the stop mechanism'is in use. Whenthe machine is to operateon comparatively light uppers, therefore, :the stop mechanism. islmoved tooperative position; and when comparatively heavy uppers are to; be lasted shoe to wipe the marginalportion of thetoeend of the upper inwardly over the insole. For thus closing the wipers there is provided wiiqer-qflc sing mechanismeonstructed.substantially as disv closedt in Letters Patent- No. 2,134,148, this mech-,

anism including'a cam-operated lever 4: which correspondsgtotthe lever H9 shown in said Let tors Patent. and is-mounted for swinging movements about a rod .6. This leveris operatedby a cam B'fast on a cam shaft ill, the cam having in one side thereof a cam track [2 in which liesaroll l4 mounted on the upper end of the lever- 4. e For advancing. the wipers lengthwise of theshoetthere is'further provided wiper-advancing-mechanism also cons'tructed substantiallyvas disclosed in the-last-mentioned Letters, Batenir; this mechanism including .a lever. 16-

corresponding to the lever I35 of said Letters Patent and mounted to swing about the rod 6.

the cam tracks l2 and impart to the wipers their wiping movements over the shoe and that the outer walls of the cam. tracks impart to them their retractive movements.

For purposes of this invention there are,pro-

vided two stop members 24 which may be rr'noved 1 into positions to engage respectively the iron-t faces of the levers 4 and IS in locations below the rod 6, as shown in Fig. 1, to limit theselevers to shorter wiper-retracting movementsthan they would otherwise. receive. These members are adjustably mounted in a lever 26 which is:

mounted to swing about a horizontal shaft 28 extending laterally of the machine. Pivotally connected to the lever 26 is a link 30 which extends forwardly to 'the'front of the machine into positionwithi-n convenient reach of the operator. By use of this link-the operator may swing the lever 26 upwardly to withdraw the stop members 24 from their operative positions to i'dle'positions. To maintain the-stop members in their idle positions, where they do not affect the movements of'the levers 4 and l'6, there is formed on the front end of the link 30 a hook 32 arranged to hook over a rod 34 extending laterally or" the machine.

' To permit'the shorter wiper-retracting movement of the wiper-closing lever 4 when the corcam" 8' has pivotally mounted thereon 'at36' a cam piece 38 controlled by a spring 40on the cam; This cam piece has thereon a cam face the upper at the corners of the toe to permit the shoe to be presented without difficulty in proper position for the lasting operation. When uppers of comparatively thin or'light material are to be operated upon, the operator swings the stop members; to their operative positions by means of the link 30. In order to avoid 'thenecessity of forcing the lower arms of the levers 4 and .15 rearwardly against the resistance of the springs 40 and 46, he may cause the machine towoiperate without any shoe therein and may move the stop members to their operative posi tions when the lower arms of the levers are moved rearwardlyin thecourse of the cycle of operations. To vary the retracted positions of the wipers when the stop members are in use,

' these members are adjustable relatively to the 42 normally parallel to the opposite face of the t cam track I 2. When the stop members 24 are adyancingjlever l6 lies when the wipers are in their retracted positions is widened, and the cam N has in it a plunge'r 44 controlled by a spring 46 on the cam., When the stop'members 24 are in their" idle positions the plunger 44 acts on the lever L6 to retractithe' wipers lengthwise of the shoe to positions determined by the inner wall of the cam track 20, and when they are in their operative positions the plunger is forced outwardly by theroll-2 2- after the wiper-retracting movement of the lever l6 has been stopped by the corresponding stop member.

It will be understood that when uppers made of comparativelythick or heavy material are to be operated upon the stop members 24 will be withdrawn from their operative positions, so that the wipers will receive their full retractive move+ ments as illustrated in Fig. 3. This will provide sufllcient clearanceifor the-projeoting ears a of lever 26;

'- Havingdescribed the invention, what. I claim as newanddesire to secure by Letters Patent of'the United States is: I I

I. Ina lasting machine, wipers movable to wipe the marginal portion of an upper about the toe end of a last inwardly over an insole on the last, automatic power-operated means for thus operating the wipers and for thereafter retracting them from the shoe, and means for changing the limits of the retractive movements-of the wipers by control of said power-operated means while maintaining the limits of their wiping movements unchanged.

2. In a lasting machine, wipers movable to wipethe marginal portion of an upper about the toe end of a last inwardlyover an insole on the last, automatic power-operated means for thus operating the wipers and for thereafter retracting them from the shoe, and stop mechanism for changing the-limits of the retractive movements of the wipers by limiting, the movement of a portion of said power-operated means while maintaining the limits of the wiping movements of shortening at the will of the operator the retracating the wipers and for thereafter retractingthem from the shoe, and stopmechanism movable either into or out of position to engage a portion of'said power-operated means and thereby to limit theretractive movements of the automatic power-operatedmechanisms arranged respectively to advance said wipers lengthwise of the shoe and to close them inward laterally of the shoe, said mechanisms being movable thereafter to retract the wipers from the shoe, and means the marginal portion of an. upper about the toe end of a last inwardly over an insole on the last, mechanisms arranged respectively to impart to said wipers advancing movements lengthwise of the shoe and closing movements laterally of the shoe, cams for operating said mechanisms toimpart the advancing and closing movements to the wipers and thereafter to retract them from the shoe, and means for shortenin the wiper-retracting movements of said mechanisms independently of said cams, said cams havingv portions yieldabl e to permit such shortening of the movements of themechanisms. r

7. In a lasting machine, wipers movable to wipe the marginal portion of an upper about the toe end of a last inwardly over an insole on the last,

mechanisms arranged respectively to impart to said wipers advancing movements lengthwise of mechanisms including levers arranged respecthe shoe and closing movements laterally of the shoe, cams for operating said mechanisms to impart the advancing and closing movements to thewipers and thereafter to retract them from ,the shoe, and stops arranged to engage said mechanisms to shorten the retractive movements of the wipers, said cams having portions yieldable to permit the mechanisms thus to be controlled by said stops.

8. In a lasting machine, wipers movable to wipe the marginal portion of an upper about the toe end of a last inwardly over an insole on the last,

. tively to impart to saidwipers advancing movements lengthwise of the shoe and closing movements laterally of the shoe, cams having therein cam tracks for operating said levers to impart the advancing and closing movements tothe wipers and thereafter to retract them from the shoe,

and stops movable at the will of the operator into positions to shorten the wiper-retracting movements of said levers, said cams having portions yieldable to permit such shortening of the movements of the levers.

,WILLIAM THOMAS BUCKINGHAM ROBERTS. 

